The successful extension of Brown decision 1954 in changing the American mode of life

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(1)THE PEOPLE’S DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF ALGERIA MINISTRY OF HIGHER EDUCATION AND SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH MENTOURI UNIVERSITY, CONSTANTINE FACULTY OF LETTERS AND LANGUAGES DEPARTMENT OF FOREIGN LANGUAGES/ENGLISH. The Successful Extension of Brown Decision 1954 in Changing the American Mode of Life A Dissertation Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master in American and British Studies. Presented by:. Supervised by :. Miss. Toureche Rim. Dr. Megherbi Nacer Edine Examined by: Pr. Harouni Brahim. -June 2010-.

(2) Dedication. I dedicate this dissertation to: My dear parents: my honourable father and my generous mother My helpful brothers: Hamza and Walid My lovely sisters: Ahlem, Lina My little angel: Idriss Abd El Rahmen My intimate friends: “Stuligirls” My family, Friends and teachers.. I.

(3) Acknowledgement First of all, I would like to thank “Allah” who guides and gives me the patience and capacity for conducting this research. I wish to express my deep gratitude to my supervisor Dr. MEGHERBI NACER for his valuable guidance, patience, generosity and for the time that he devoted to me during the period of my research. I would thank, Dr. Dob, Mr. Delichouch and Miss. Boussafsaf for their support with books and documents which really helped me to carry out this study. I am equally thankful to all the members of the board of examiners who accepted to examine and evaluate my dissertation. Their comments are warmly welcomed. I also wish to express my sincere thanks to all my friends the “Stuligirls” and especially Ismahen, Randa and Imen. I would thank my friends Issam, Achref, Adel, Lemine, Saleh and Houssem for their encouragement. Last but not least, I do thank my smallest family. My Father and Mother who helped me with their precious advice, deep love, greatest encouragement and patience. I would thank my elder sister Titiwa who has been for me a source of help and courage. Hamza and Walid, my brothers whom I deserve all my gratitude for their presence and encouragement. And all those who were behind the elaboration of this work.. II.

(4) Abstract The present thesis, a total of three chapters aims at showing the successful extension of Brown.V. Board of Education of Topacka, of, Kanssas 1954. I attempt to answer three different questions that are asked all along the three chapters. The first chapter sheds light on Brown’s decision and its success in eliminating racial discrimination in American public education. The second chapter deals with the success of the decision in abolishing racism in other public facilities and voter registration. The last one is devoted to showing the extension of the decision in fighting segregation in public transportation. The general objective of this study is to examine the racial desegregation of black American public schools and its effects on other public facilities. The conclusion obtained shows that Brown’s decision had opened the door to further civil rights gains for black Americans and thus leading led to the enactment of numerous racial desegregation measures in different spheres of American mode of life.. III.

(5) Résumé. Cette présente thèse, composé de trois chapitres vise à montrer l’impacte de la décision « Brown. V. Conseil de L'éducation de Topeka, de, Kanssas 1954 ». Nous allons essayer de répondre au trois questions qui seront développées tout le long des trois chapitres. La première question met en lumière la décision de Brown et son succès dans l'élimination de la discrimination raciale au sein des établissements scolaires blancs. Le second chapitre traite de la réussite de la décision e l’abolition du racisme dans les institutions, établissements publiques et inscriptions des électeurs. Le dernier chapitre montre l'extension de la décision dans la lutte contre la ségrégation dans les transports publics. L'objectif général de cette étude est d'examiner la discrimination raciale contre les noirs Américains dans les écoles publiques et ses effets sur d'autres institutions et organismes publics. En conclusion, la décision de Brown a été la motivation qui a poussé les Noirs Américains a lutté pour leurs droits civiques, et c’est ce qui a conduit à l'adoption de nombreuses mesures en conter de la discrimination raciale dans les différentes sphères du mode de vie des Américains.. IV.

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(15) List of Abbreviations and Acronyms. 1.. NAACP. National Association of. Advancement of Colored People. 2. CORE. Congress of Racial Equality.. 3. SNCC. Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee.. 4. PSCEC. Public Safety Commission Eugene Conner.. 5. U.S.A. United States of America.. 6. WWII. The Second World War.. 7.. Southern Christian Leadership Congress.. SCLC. 8. MIA. Montgomery Improvement Association.. 9. LDEF. Legal Defence and Educational Fund.. 10. COAHR. Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights.. 11. CRC. Civil Rights Commission.. 12. ICC. Interstate Commerce Commission.. 13. ACMHR. Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights.. 14. ICC. Interstate Commerce Commission. 15. KKK. Ku Klux Klan.. VI.

(16) List of figures. Figure1: Decision of the Supreme Court of The United States 1896………………07 Figure2: The Selma to Montgomery 1965…………………………………………..41. VII.

(17) TABLE OF CONTENTS. Introduction......................................................................................................................01 Chapter I: Desegregation of Public Education….................................................................04 Introduction.....................................................................................................................04 I-1- Plessy v. Ferguson (1896)............................................................................................05 I-2-Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Ruling, Kansas (1954).....................................08. I-3- Negative Impacts on Children in Desegregated School................................................10. I-3-1-The Severe Impact on Pioneering Black Children......................................................11. I-3-2-Continuing Racial Bias in the School Curriculum.......................................................14. I-4-Resistance to the Court Decision.................................................................................15. I-4-1-Little Rock Central High School Crises.......................................................................15. Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 20 Endnotes…………………………………………………………………...................................…………..………21 Chapter II/: Fighting Segregation In Public Transportation And Other Public Facilities..…..22 Introduction…………………………..................................……………………………………………………….22 II.1. Segregation in Public Transportation…….......................……………….………………………….23 II.1.1. The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1954)………................... .………….……...……………...…..23 VIII.

(18) II.2. Segregation In Interstate Transportation……………....................….……….……………..……26 II.2.1. Freedom Rides 1961……………………………..………………............................….……………….26 II.3. Segregation In Restaurants……………………..………………………...........................…………….29 II.3.1. The Greensboro Sit-Ins 1960………………………………………........................…..…..………..30 II.4. Segregation In Public Facilities …………………………………...........................…..……………...32 II.4.1. Birmingham Protest 1963…………………...……………………….........................………….…...32 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….…………………………….....36 Endnotes…………………………………………………………………………………………………….…………….…….37 Chapter III: Segregation in Voter Registration and The Civil Rights Act 1964……….…....38 Introduction…………………………………………………………………………………………….……………..………38 III.1.The Voter Registration……………………………………………………………………………………..………39 III.1.1.Bloody Sunday in Selma…………………………….…………………………………………………..……..40 III.2.The Achievement of The African Americans………….……………………………………..……..…..44 III.2.1. Civil Rights Acts 1964………………………………………………………………………...........……44 Conclusion………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………50 Conclusion…………………………………………………………………………………….............…………………….51 Bibliography……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………55. IX.

(19) Introduction. Although the term racism usually denotes prejudice based on race, violence, dislike, discrimination, or oppression. Racism is thought to be a belief or ideology that members of racial groups possess in form of characteristics or abilities specific to that race, which may help to distinguish it as being either superior or inferior to other racial groups. People all over the world may confront racism because of sex, religion, or national origin As the Black Americans they faced serious problems of racism and segregation because of the color of their skin and their origin. In 1954 the Brown decision was rendered to desegregate public schools. The focus of the present research would be on the successful extension of the Brown decision in eliminating racial discrimination from public facilities. This research focuses on, the Brown decision of 1954 which is one of the possible solutions that could help in eliminating racial problems in the American society. Along the three chapters, I will discuss the issue of racism focusing on desegregation of public education, fighting segregation in public transportation and other public facilities, and finally, segregation in voter registration and the Civil Rights Act 1964. This research delivers into the subsequent three the questions: To what extent was Brown decision of 1954 successful in eliminating racial discrimination in black American public education? Was the decision successful in abolishing racism in public transportation and other public facilities? To what extent was the decision helpful in fighting segregation in the issue of vote through the Civil Rights Act 1964? When trying to answer these questions, I attempted has been made to rely on a combination of descriptive and argumentative approaches. The nature of the topic of this dissertation includes a, description that is useful in showing the main aspects of Brown. 1.

(20) decision 1954. In addition, argumentation is used to show how this decision has been an attempt to eliminate racial discrimination in some public facilities and voter registration. This study is made up of three theoretical chapters. The first chapter is devoted to giving a detailed view about the issue of racism in American public education and the specific case of Brown, tackling Plessy decision at first, followed by Brown decision. Then, presenting their negative effects on children in desegregated schools. The end of this part ends with the white resistance to the Court decision in the case of Little Rock Central High School Crisis. The second chapter is entitled “Fighting Segregation in Public Transportation and Other Public Facilities”. First, it starts with the issue of public transportation which means; the case of Rosa Parks “the Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1954). As well as, this subtitle represents Martin Luther King’s role and how he fought to eliminate discrimination with non-violent ways. In addition to that this part deals with different problems of segregation in other public facilities such as, the Greensboro Sit-ins 1960, and Birmingham Protests of 1963.. The last chapter is restricted to discuss the problem of segregation in voter registration and the Civil Rights Act of 1964. It speaks about the struggle of black people and how they tried to gain their equality and their rights in the whites’ society. They started with desegregation in public education, which means Brown decision 1954. This decision helped blacks a lot to get their rights as American people. Blacks went forward and rapidly to put an end to the whites’ discrimination and segregation in many fields. The voter registration is one among the most important problems that African Americans had faced during their struggle. Selma March of 1965, for million of Americans, would be known simply as Bloody Sunday. March 7, 1965, it was a march that called for equality in vote.. 2.

(21) The African-American Civil Rights Movement (1955–1968) refers to the movements in the United States aimed at outlawing racial discrimination against African Americans and restoring Suffrage in Southern states. This study covers the phase of the movement between 1954 and 1968, particularly in the South. By 1966, the emergence of the Black Power Movement, which lasted roughly from 1966 to 1975, enlarged the aims of the Civil Rights Movement to include racial dignity, economic and political self-sufficiency, and freedom from oppression by white Americans. The Civil Rights Act of 1964 was the greatest legislative achievement of the Civil Rights Movement. It is one of the most important domestic legislations of the post war era.. When concluding this research, great care has been taken to rely on primary sources whenever possible, the primary source material includes official documents, speeches and announcements made by U.S. presidents. The secondary sources utilized include a variety of books and articles.. 3.

(22) Chapter I Desegregation of Public Education. The color of your skin determined where you could get your hair cut, which hospital wards your could be treated in, which park or library you could visit, or who you could go fishing with. And children were instructed early in the customs of racial division_ _at schools where they never saw a face of another color (U.S. Department of State, “President Bush,” 17 May 2004).. Introduction. During the period from 1896 to 1954 The United States lived under decisions passed by the Supreme Court calling for Segregation in different public facilities starting from railroad cares. Then the Court passed other required segregation in all public places such as restaurants, theatres, hotels, eating places and even schools. But this last did not survive; another decision taken by the Supreme Court reversed it. The decision was Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas (1954). This chapter introduces Plessy v. Ferguson decision (1896), and. several grounds concerning Brown decision. Then it shows some different. negative impacts in desegregated schools; on children and school curriculum. And it ends with the resistance of the Court decision and Little Rock Central High School Crisis.. 4.

(23) I.1. Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) Since the end of the nineteenth century, segregation was regarded as not violating the Constitution of the United States. On May 18, 1896 the Supreme Court announced its decision in a case, called Plessy v. Ferguson. And it ruled that a Louisiana law segregating the races in railroad cars did not violate the Fourteenth Amendments to the Constitution as long as the separate facilities provided were equal. Speaking for the Court, Justice Henry Billings Brown said: “So far, then, as a conflict with the Fourteenth Amendment is concerned, the case reduces itself to the question whether the statute of Louisiana is a reasonable regulation, and with respect to this there must necessarily be a large discretion on the part of the legislature. (Brooks, 269). In the case of Plessy decision the Supreme Court ruled that separate facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as long as they were equal. In addition to that, the “separate but equal” doctrine was reached in Plessy v. Ferguson. This historical decision set the pattern of race relations in the South for half a century (Donaldg, 21). Also, the principal of segregation was systematically extended by state and local law to every human activity, parks, theatres, hotels, hospitals, residential districts, even cemeteries. The Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) decision called for segregation in railroad and all public places.. 5.

(24) Figure 01: Decision of the Supreme Court of the United States 1896. Source: Lofgren, Charles A. The Plessy Case: Historical Interpretation. New York: Oxford University Press, 1987:106. 6.

(25) This latter represents the official decision of the arrest of Homer Adolph Plessy, a black man who had purchased a first class ticket on an intrastate railroad and refused to accept a seat in a coach assigned to Black passengers. As a result, Homer was arrested and convicted of violating a Louisiana statute mandating railroads to provide separate facilities for black and white passengers (Lofgren, 105). The Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) is the notorious “separate but equal” case in which the United States Supreme Court upheld the Jim Crow1 segregation laws as constitutional. The Supreme Court ruled that separate facilities for blacks and whites were constitutional as they were equal. The Supreme Court agreed that: “Separate but equal is legal fiction. There never was, and never will be, any separate equality (U.S. Department of State, “President Bush,” 17 May 2004). This doctrine gave legal sanction to legalize segregation. In fact, the doctrine of “separate but equal” was equal to “Jim Crow” (Lofgren, 108-109). As a result, if one race be inferior to the other socially, the Constitution of the United States cannot put them upon the same plane. As John Marshall Harlan wrote in his dissenting opinion in Plessy v. Ferguson: “In view of the Constitution, in the eye of the law, there is in this country no superior, dominant ruling class of citizens. The hand best is the peer of the most powerful. The law regards man as man, and takes no account of his surroundings, or of his color (U.S. Department of State, “President Bush,” 17 May 2004). Marshall Harlan wanted to explain that all American citizens were equal, and the law should judge man as man; looked to their characters not their color skin. Albion W. Tourgée, a prominent Racial Republican author and politician was the layer of Plessy. He argued the case on the basis of the Thirteenth and Fourteenth Amendments, noting that: “Justice is pictured blind and her daughter, the law ought at least to. 7.

(26) be color blind” (Klarman, 282). At last, the decision allowed racism to be institutionalized and marked the beginning of Jim Crow Laws and acceptance of any racist behaviour. To sum up, between 1896 and 1954 the “Separate but Equal” doctrine was the law of the land. In particular this law was applied in southern states; it passed numerous laws that required a strict segregation of the races. But just after 1954, the Plessy v. Ferguson decision 1896 was reversed by another decision known as Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Ruling, Kansas 1954. II.2. Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka Ruling, Kansas (1954) The U.S. Supreme Court declared, in Brown v. Board of Education (1954), that racial segregation of public schools is unlawful under the Constitution. This landmark decision highlights the U.S. Supreme Court’s role in affecting changes in national and social policy. The Brown case refers to a little girl whose parents sued so that she could attend an all-white school in her neighbourhood. In 1954 the struggle for equality entered a new phase with the history of the Supreme Court decision that declared that for “racial segregation in public schools is unconstitutional” and that the United States Constitution guarantees liberty and equal opportunity to the people of the U.S. This historic ruling in Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka reversed the Court’s 1896 Plessy v. Ferguson decision which asserted that segregation did not violate the Fourteenth Amendment as long as equal facilities were provided for each race. In other words, during the 1896 the educational system mandated separate schools for children based solely on race (Demarco, 21). The National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) ² took a key role in the move toward equal education opportunity. Members were involved at every level, providing legal counsel, and funding. During 1940’s and 1950’s, local NAACP leaders separated plans to end the doctrine of “Separate” but “Equal”. Public schools became the means to that end. Their local efforts 8.

(27) would ultimately change the court of history. This decision was a major victory of Thurgood Marshall, chief counsel of the Legal Defence (LD) and Educational Fund (EF) of the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP) (Maldwy, 535). Thurgood Marshall, called for desegregation in American public schools from high schools to kindergartens, he fought for equality between two races; black and white children. He hoped that its strategy would force the Supreme Court to overrule Plessy v. Ferguson 1896 that declared that segregation did not violate the Constitution of the United States of America (Maldway, 339). In December, 1952, the U.S. Supreme Court had on its docket cases from Kansas, Delaware, the District of Columbia, South Carolina, and Virginia, all of which challenged the constitutionality of racial segregation in public schools. The U.S. Supreme Court had consolidated these five cases under one name, Oliver Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka. One of the justices later explained that the U.S. Supreme Court felt it was better to have representative cases from different parts of the country. They decided to put Brown first “so that the whole question would not smack of being a purely Southern one” (Caroll, 748). On May, 17, 1954, the U.S. Supreme Court decided that “separate but equal” doctrine had no place in public education. By that time 1954, all the hopes of black Americans were combined with the success of the NAACP; it had become a source of faith that the Supreme Court decision ruling school unconstitutional would cause the quick death of Jim Crow Laws in America (Epstein, 18). Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas was associated with the case of Oliver Brown, who sought to direct enforcement of a state law that permitted cities to maintain segregated schools. This situation forced his eight years old daughter, Linda, to travel a mile by bus to reach a black school even though she lived only three blocks from an 9.

(28) all-white elementary school. The case of Brown was a collection of five cases, from Delaware (Belton v. Gebhardt), Kansas (Brown v. Board of Education), South Carolina (Briggs v. Elliot), Virginia (Davis v. County School Board of Prince Edward County), and the District of Columbia (Bolling v. Sharpe) (Bing, 21). To sum up, the most importance thing in the mission of the Brown decision was to eliminate the exclusion of black students from white schools. This means that this decision overturned the Plessy v. Ferguson (1896), it called foe vigorous enforcement of racial discrimination laws as the President George W. Bush said: “requires more than a place in a school. Justice requires that every school teach every child in America (U.S. Department of States, “President Bush,” 17 May 2004).. I.3. Negative Impacts on Children in Desegregated School During the first era of school desegregation, which took place in the late 1950s and early 1960s, Supreme Court Justices, congressional leaders, and presidents failed in providing strong supervision of courts in school desegregation. This lack of supervision signaled weak commitment to change and encouraged white resistance. Federal officials left much actual desegregation up to courageous black children, parents, and community leaders. In fact, children were lonely Pioneers thrown into extremely hostile, especially in all white environments. As a result of that problem, desegregation’s cost was very heavy for these children pioneers. These people suffered a lot, such as, physical, moral, and even in school’s curriculum.. 10.

(29) II.3.1.The Severe Impact on Pioneering Black Children. During the case of Brown some scientists presented data that segregation had a harmful impact on children by damaging their self-esteem. In addition to that, desegregation had a damaging psychological, and often physical, impact on numerous children of color, all this because of weak and feeble enforcement. As an example, Melba Plattillo Beals; she was one among nine black students in Little Rock. Central High School, wrote in her book. “Warriors Don’t Cry”, about the traumatic experiences that they faced in Little Rock .(Beals, 18) This experience happened exactly on the morning of September 23, 1957, when nine African-American high school students faced an angry mob of over 1,000 EuropeanAmericans protesting integration in front of Central High School in Little Rock, Arkansas. As the students were escorted inside by the Little Rock police, violence escalated and they were removed from the school. The next day, President Dwight D. Eisenhower responded by federalizing the Arkansas National Guard and dispatching a thousand troops of the I0Ist Airborne Division to Little Rock. Those students had suffered a lot, and this example was among a list of other violent experiences faced by black students. In reality, few studies have systematically examined the negative impact of desegregated schools on children pioneers. One sociologist Leslie Inniss attempted to examine such impact of desegregated schools. She examined the case of twenty five black adults who had desegregated high schools in the South. All these pioneers paid a high psychological and emotional price. All of the kids generally ended with nervous breakdowns. Even after the period of desegregation, people were still in pain as they recalled negative desegregation experience. In fact, Blacks during that period had suffered a lot. In general, most black students were tormented constantly by white students, and sometimes even by their teachers. One student reported that: “We had a. 11.

(30) little group of whites that would meet us every morning; I mean they would say little ditties to us, it was sort of like entertainment”. (Inniss, 253). Inniss was a black student pioneer at a formerly white high school during the 1960s. Later she recounted her emotionally battering experience:. During the first year, parents spit on me, called me a monkey, and used other intimidating behaviors while lining up on both sides of my margining pathway to the school, forming what I called a “tunnel of terror”. The students defaced my locker, stole my books, and tore my clothing. (Inniss, 7) As a result of extreme harassment, most black students had a sense of decreased self- esteem or self-confidence. As one student noted that: “desegregation left me with feelings of alienation and incompetence”. (Innis, 9) In fact, blacks had suffered a lot during the period of segregation and after that, which means desegregated period. Black students tried to do their best in other to be accepted not rejected in the whites environment, but it was not the case; as black student explained:. We had to learn their way of doing things –acting, talking, dressing their way of being, but nobody was interested in our way. We wanted so badly to be accepted, we tried to do and be all they wanted and we were still rejected. Even today, I have a really big problem with rejection of any kind. (Inniss, 9). The majority of black parents shared the same point of view that they would never send their children to an integrated school. They were afraid that they will be treated in the same way and will face the same thing. As a consequence of this discrimination, the sense of hatred was born between blacks and whites. In an interview, a pioneer in a southern desegregated school, said with great pain: “They beat me. They beat me every day that I went 12.

(31) into that white school … I can’t forget … I can’t love them now” (Barnett, 34). The relationship between both was too bad in some way it can never be repaired, because some blacks can never forget what happened at that time and they cannot forgive.. On the other hand, some black pioneers used other tactics and attacks in other to hide their weakness and failure. This way reflected their survival and resistance strategies that they used during the period of desegregation. As was the case of the sociologist Bernice McNoir Bernett, who used the strategy of resistance in other to survive with white people. She had behaved in that way during the voluntary school choice period of desegregation in her southern town. The sociologist has explained that she protected herself form the extreme harassment that she faced every day, by withdrawing secretly and using tactics similar to those of People of the Wars who successfully survive with systematic personal attack, and said: “…I swore never to let ‘them’ see me cry” (Barnett, 35). Sociologist Bernice McNoir Bernett wanted to be more calm and courageous for surviving successfully. As a result of that, the costs were high, as she described:. Mine was a battle that was fought not in the newspaper or in front of the television cameras, but alone and with the everyday survival resistance strategies I used in a small southern school. Thus discovered from and unaccepted in both worlds, I lost my “voice.” (Barnett, 34).. This last shows how the decision has some negative impact on pioneering black children. These people had suffered a lot during the 1950s and 1960s; which reflected the desegregation’s period “Brown v. Board of Education, of Kansas, Topeka (1954)”. This period had some different negative impacts on black children; the suffering of those people. 13.

(32) differed from one to another some of them suffered physically others emotionally and even psychologically.. I.3.2 Continuing Racial Bias in the School Curriculum. In almost desegregated school systems the curriculum has stayed mostly the same as it was before desegregation. In a 1978 study of desegregated classrooms, Ray Rist found a widespread orientation among teachers to have black students acculturate to white ways. Since 1970s, multicultural education had been added to schools, and most schools had not successfully integrated black people, their history and even their experiences (Rist, 99). Although some teachers added references to the accomplishments of blacks during a special ethnic history week, the general focus of most history lessons was on white understandings of U.S. history and group experiences.. Textbooks provided one example of the whitewashed curriculum, as they often communicate much inaccurate historical information, especially in regard to racial discrimination, and conflict. Assessing high school history books, Loewen found that the books ignored or downplayed the harsh realities of racial discrimination, past and present. History books denied the history of African Americans and how they fought for their liberty equality and rights during a long period of time (Loewen, 137-136). For example, New York City’s Wall Street is celebrated in textbooks for its economic role, not as it began as a large colonial market where whites bought enslaved African Americans in a bloody business. In 1720, New York City’s population contained seven thousand African Americans and most of them were slaves, Wall Street was the market place where owners could hire out their slaves by the day or week (Loewen, 199). Not one major textbook made significant use of African. 14.

(33) American sources in regard to racial issues, and not one lets African Americans speak for themselves.. In addition to that, in the curriculum the use of racial books was widespread. In literature, for instance, Mark Twain’s Huckleberry Finn, showed how widespread the requirement of reading this racist novels was in schools and what were the consequences on black children (Sharon, 305). The use of such kind of books led to create racial problems between both white and black students.. As a conclusion, segregation in desegregated school’s curriculum still existed after desegregation. The problem of continuing segregation in school curriculum led to intraracial problems within desegregated classrooms.. I.4. Resistance to the Court Decision I.4.1. Little Rock Central High School Crisis Following the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education, of Topeka decision, some school districts, started to integrate and worked for desegregation, particularly those in the Deep South. One of the most famous cases involved Little Rock Central High School; it appeared in the fight over school desegregation. In this case, Arkansas Governor Orval Faubus joined local whites in resisting integration by dispatching the Arkansas National Guard to block nine black students from entering the school. As some politicians vowed that they would go to jail rather than desegregate; and others swore that they would die rather than permit integration. President Dwight Eisenhower responded to this situation by sending federal troops to protect the students (Epstein, 38).. 15.

(34) After the Supreme Court's Brown v. Board of Education decision, the Little Rock school board accepted the fact that it had to integrate and began working on an integration plan. The number of students selected was 17 black students, but by the end of August the number dwindled down to nine. In 1957, those nine black students had been stopped from joining the all-white Central High School at Little Rock. The federal Government ordered the state Governor to let the students enrol. The Governor Orval Faubus refused, and was well supported by the local white population (Peter, 67).. Those nine students had faced a lot of violating reaction, before the opening of the school year. On August 29, 1957, the Mother’s League of Little Rock Central High School went into the Arkansas Chancery Court for Pulaski Country in an attempt to acquire an injunction which would delay the start of integration on the ground that it could lead to violence (Sitkoff, 29). On September 2, 1957 the evening before Arkansas schools was to reopen, and the nine black students were to enter Central High, National Guardsmen surrounded the school. Ostensibly, the mission of those Guardsmen was to prevent violence, but when the nine black students sought to enter the school on September 3, they berried their way. In a televised speech that night, the Governor Orval Faubus went on television to announce that it would “not be possible to restore or to maintain order if forcible integration is carried out tomorrow” (Sitkoff, 28). He also proclaimed that if the black students attempted to enter Central High, “blood would run in the streets." (Sitkoff, 29). When they prepared to enter Central High, a crowd of angry whites shouted: “Niggers. Niggers. They’re coming. Here they come!” (Sitkoff, 30). And others screamed: “They‘re in!” “The niggers are in our school” (Sitkoff, 29).. The terror of the first day was unforgettable for those nine students, as Elizabeth Eckford one of the students described that day: 16.

(35) Frightened and didn’t know what to do. I turned around and crowd came toward me. They moved closer and closer. Somebody started yelling They glared at me with a mean look and I was very ‘Lynch her! Lynch her!’ I tried to see a friendly face somewhere in the mob- someone maybe who would help. I looked into the face of an old woman and it seemed a kind face. But when I looked at her again, she spat at me (De Marco, 78). During that period the nine students had faced a lot of difficulties, they had faced opposition from not only the white community but the black community as well. Melba Pattillo, a 15-year-old who was one of the nine black students, remembered a confrontation with a black adult at church one Sunday: I was startled when a woman I'd seen often enough but didn't really know began lecturing me. For a moment I feared she was going to haul off and hit me. She was beside herself with anger. I could barely get my good morning in because she was talking very loud, attracting attention as she told me I was too fancy for my britches and that other people in our community would pay for my uppity need to be with white folks(Sitlroff, 29).. On September 4, 1957 by which the events in Little Rock Central High School had attracted the attention of the nation’s media, the nine black youths arrived at the high school to begin classes. But the Arkansas National Guard turned them away; the Arkansas refused to comply with the law of the land. Then the National attention focused on President Eisenhower, who was constitutionally required to enforce law of the land. On September 20, 1957 Judge Davis ordered Governor Faubus to remove the Arkansas Guard (De Marco, 80). On September 23, 1957 local police and state troopers escorted the “Little Rock Nine,” as the 17.

(36) media had named the nine students. Over a thousand white protesters surrounded the high school, and racists from across the South had flocked to the city to prevent the blacks from entering the school. And white students sang: “Tow, four, six, eight, we ain’t gonna integrate,” the mob jeered “Niggers, keep away from our school. Go back to the jungle.” (Sitlroff, 30). The first day ended at noon and the police took the nine black students home.. On September 24, 1957 the President Dwight D. Eisenhower said that he would use whatever force was necessary to uphold the law. He ordered the 1,200-man 327th Airborne Battle Group of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division from Fort Campbell, Kentucky, to make sure that the nine black teenagers joined the school. These troops had to be stationed inside the Central High School, and they escorted the nine black students everywhere they went for the whole year, in other to protect them from harassment of the white students. By the same order, the entire 10,000 man Arkansas National Guard was federalized, to remove them from the control of Governor Faubus. The next morning, with fixed bayonets, the paratroopers dispersed the crowd and led the black students into Central High School. This decision showed how much the power of the Federal Government was increasing at the expense of the state rights (De Marco, 77). By 1961 there were still no black children in white schools in the state of Alabama, Mississippi or Carolina; progress towards desegregation after Little Rock was extremely slow. Though there were some 2 million black school children in the South in 1960, a mere 2,600 of these went to integrated schools with whites (De Marco, 76).. To sum up, despite the opposition, the nine students entered the Little Rock Central High School. The crisis in Little Rock showed America that the president could and would enforce court orders with federal troops. When the nine black students successfully completed the school year, they showed America that black students could and would endure 18.

(37) the intense hatred that racist white students could dump on them. It was a big step towards integration and an important one, even though it caused nine brave teenagers unforgettable pain.. 19.

(38) Conclusion. The United State’s society had passed through several Court’s decisions, some of them called for segregation and separation between races, whereas, others were passed by the Supreme Court to put an end to that kind of decisions. As the case of Plessy v. Ferguson (1896) and Brown v. Board of Education, of Topeka, Kansas (1954).This last, Brown decision wanted to make a change in the American mode of life. It called for desegregation, particularly in public schools. Segregation in public schools had survived for a long period of time, but Brown decision reversed this and called for the opposite; desegregation. This decision opened the door to further civil rights struggle for black Americans.. 20.

(39) Endnotes 1 The Jim Crow Laws were state and local laws enacted in the Southern and boarder states of the United States and enforced between 1876 and 1965. They mandated “separate but equal” status for black Americans. In reality, this led to treatment and accommodations that were almost always inferior to those provided to white Americans. Although it was legally required that the facilities provided should be equal, they were not. The “Jim Crow period” or the “Jim Crow era” refers to the time during which this practise occurred. The most important laws required that public schools, public places, and public transportation, like trains and buses, have separate facilities for whites and blacks. 2 the National Association for Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), found in 1909, took a key role in the move toward equal education opportunity. Members were involved at every level, providing legal counsel, and funding. His chief was Thurgood Marshall. During 1940’s and 1950’s, local NAACP leaders separated plans to end the doctrine of “separate but equal”. Public schools became the means to that end. The decision was a major victory for the NAACP.. 21.

(40) Chapter II Fighting Segregation in Public Transportation and other Public Facilities. The Negro baby born in America today, regardless of the section of the nation in which he is born, has about one-half as much chance of completing high school as a white baby born in the same place on the same day; one third as much chance of completing college; one third as much chance of becoming a professional man; twice as much chance of becoming unemployed; about one-seventh as much chance of earning $10,000 a year; a life expectancy which is seven years shorter; and the prospects of earning only half as much (United states Department of the Interior, National Park Service.15 March 2005).. Introduction. Despite the huge efforts made by the blacks to win the struggle and the great hope of the black nation, racism carried on its way throughout the American continent. This chapter deals with the issue of public transportation, in other words, the case of Rosa Parks “The Mother of the Civil Rights Movement”, and the Montgomery Bus Boycott (1954). Then, it speaks about the problem of intrastate transportation, and the struggle of the Freedom Rides (1961). At the end of this part, the blacks had not the right to eat in the same place as whites, and they were not even served by the white’s restaurants or even the waitresses; this is what happened in The Greensboro Sit-ins 1960.. 22.

(41) II.1.Segregation in Public Transportation. II.1.1.The Montgomery Bus Boycott (1954) “Rosa Park’s” and “Martin Luther King’s Role. For many years, African Americans were of harassment brutality and desegregation due to the segregation policies of the Montgomery City Council. Blacks faced segregation in many places such as parks, schools, restrooms, and theaters. In addition to that, discrimination was proved through banning them from their civil rights like participating in elections and even in holding public offices. The Montgomery city had been known as the ‘Cradle of the Confederacy’ has the distinction of being the ‘Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement’. The successful boycott of the segregated buses in Montgomery, Alabama which begun with the arrest of Rosa Parks on December, 1, 1965, transformed the Civil Rights cause into a mass political movement. It demonstrates that African Americans could unite and engage in disciplined political actions, and marked the emergence of Martin Luther King, the indispensable leader who inspired millions, held them to the high moral standard of nonviolent resistance, and built bridges between Americans of all races, creeds and colors. While many brave activists contributed to the Civil Rights revolution of the 1960’s, it was King who, more than any other individual, forced millions of white Americans to confront directly the reality of Jim Crow and shaped the political reality in which the landmark Civil Rights Act of 1960 and Voting Act of 1965 could become law (Friedman, 46). On December 1, 1955, the blacks of Montgomery, Alabama, decided to boycott the city buses until they could sit anywhere they wanted, instead of being relegated to the back when a white boarded. At that day, exactly on Thursday, December 1, 1955, Rosa McCauley Parks, an African American seamstress was arrested in Montgomery, Alabama for not standing and letting her white bus rider take her seat. According to Freidman Michael Jay, Rosa Parks was tired and she just wanted to go home (p 46).As she said later “I didn’t get on the bus with the intention of being arrested. 23.

(42) I got to the bus with the intention of going home…” (Friedman, 46). Rosa Parks sat in the first row of the colored section of seats between the white and black’s rows, all this according to law, that blacks and whites could not occupy the same row. When the white seats filled, the driver ordered Parks to give her seat when another white person boarded the bus. When Parks refused, she was arrested, jailed, and ultimately fined $10 plus $4 in court costs. Parks was 42 years old she had crossed the line into direct political action. An outraged black community formed Montgomery Improvement Association (MIA) to organize a boycott of the city bus system. Negro ministers and lowyers, who had been waiting for a test case on the constitutionality of the law. Partly among local community leaders, citizens turned to a recent arrival to Montgomery, the newly installed pastor of Dexter Avenue King Memorial Baptist Church. At that time the church played an important role in helping the blacks community, it was considered as a National Historical landmark because of its status as the Birthplace of the Civil Rights Movement. In other words the new minister of Montgomery, Martin Luther King Jr. was recruited to organize a boycott of city buses. This begun the Civil Rights Movement. In his first speech to MIA, the younger king told the group: We have no alternative but to protest. For many years we have shown an amazing patience. We have sometimes given our white brothers the feeling that we liked the way we were being treated. But we come here tonight to be saved from that patience that makes us patient with anything less than freedom and justice (Quoted in Friedman, 36).. Under King’s leadership, boycotters organized carpools, while black taxi drivers charged boycotters the same fare. They would have paid on the bus, by auto, by horse and buggy, and even simply by walking, nonviolent political action forced the city to pay a heavy economic price for its segregationist’s ways. In addition to that, this act made a national figure of King, whose powerful presence drew publicity for the movement and attracted support from sympathetic whites, especially 24.

(43) those in the North. King’s Time magazine later concluded ‘risen from nowhere to become one of the nation’s remark able leaders of men’ (Freidman, 35). During this movement and after a period of time whites attempted to put an end to it through many methods. They wanted to end the boycott in every way possible. Among the methods used was to divide the black community. On January 21, 1956, the City Commission met with three non-MIA black ministers and proposed a compromise. The ministers accepted, and the commission leaked false reports to a newspaper that the boycott was over. In addition to that, some blacks were arrested, and they tried to present it as a violent reaction from the black Americans .All these methods failed and the boycott went on. When that effort to break up the boycott failed, whites turned to violence. King’s home was bombed with his wife and baby daughter inside, on January 30, as well as Nixon’s home on February 1. King’s said: We want to love our enemies — be good to them. This is what we must live by; we must meet hate with love. We must love our white brothers no matter what they do to us (Quoted in Freidman, 35).. Even after his house was attacked and King himself, along with more than 100 boycotters, were arrested for hindering a bus, his continued grace and adherence to nonviolent tactics earned respect for the movement and discredited the segregationists of Montgomery. The blacks had already begun to end the boycott in the court. Now, they would accept nothing less than full integration. The blacks were armed with the Brown decision, which said that the “separate but equal” doctrine had no place in public education. In this case it must follow that the doctrine had no place in any public facilities. In addition to that, the city was not in the prejudiced local courts but in federal court, which means that even a black man could hope to have a fair trial (Sitkoff, 56). In the end, the boycott included some 50,000 Negroes who refused to ride the city’s buses for 381 days until the United States Supreme Court struck down laws segregating public. 25.

(44) transportation. The desegregation of the Montgomery bus system required not only Rosa Parks’ personal initiative and bravery King’s political leadership, but also a NAACP style legal effort. As the boycotters braved segregationist opposition, desegregationist attorneys cited the precedent of Brown v. Board of Education in their court challenge to the Montgomery bus ordinance. In November 13, 1956, the Supreme Court of the United States rejected the city’s final appeal, and declared that segregation on buses was unconstitutional. The Montgomery Buses Boycott was officially over. Thus fortified, the civil rights movement moved on to new battles. Although the gains of the Montgomery Bus Boycott were small compared with the gains blacks would later win, the boycott was important start to the Civil Rights Movement. As Robert Wright wrote, that “It helped to lunch at 10 years national struggle for freedom and justice, the Civil Rights Movement that stimulated others to do the same at home and abroad.. II.2. Segregation in Intrastate Transportation. In 1961 and 1962, the movement for racial justice felled down, it gave no results and no success. At that moment, the Civil Rights workers because aware of the real state and the strong confrontation they have to confront, and victory is not easy to get it but they have to struggle strongly to win the battle. In addition, to the serious resistance that the whites were holding for the Civil Rights Movement. The Blacks were convinced that this situation needs huge efforts, they decided to start changing whites’ ideas, attitudes, and thoughts towards them, but this would have an absolute end which is confrontation with policies that itself requires a federal intervention.. II.2.1. Freedom Rides 1961. Although slavery was illegal for a long time, especially in the Southern states; by separating public facilities between blacks and whites, such as, in restaurants, restrooms, drinking fountains, and even seats in buses. In 1946, the Supreme Court ruled that making blacks sit in the 26.

(45) backs of buses travelling from one state to another, while white passengers sat in the front, was unconstitutional. In 1947, a group of Blacks and whites planed a “Journey of Reconciliation” to test enforcement of the Supreme Court decision in Morgan v. the Commonwealth of Virginia which outlawed segregation in interstates travel. This group of people rode buses together to see if the new law worked, but the demonstrators were arrested in North Carolina by people who were against blacks being treated as equal. In that case, it was clear that not everyone in the U.S. was ready for integration in the late 1940’s (Cozzens, 88). Recalling that failed effort 15 years earlier, Brown v. Board decision 1954 opened a new door for new activists to fight against segregation in intrastate transportation. James Farmer new national director of Congress Of Racial Equality (CORE) organized a new generation of black and white activists to travel on intrastate buses in other to test 1960’s United States Supreme Court’s ruling in Boynton v. Virginia which called for prohibiting racial segregation in intrastate transportation. The CORE proposed a new “Journey of Reconciliation”, called the Freedom Rides. This one played a big part in getting the Civil Rights Movement more attention. The Freedom Rides contained seven blacks and six white activists who would travel on Greyhound and Trail ways buses, from Washington, D.C to New Orleans. The Freedom Riders left Washington, D.C on May 4, 1961 and travelled without incident across Virginia and North Carolina, but they encountered violence for the first time at the bus terminal in Rock Hill, South Carolina when, John Lewis started to enter a white waiting room. He had volunteered for the Freedom Ride because “at this time, human dignity is the most important thing in my life” as he said (Sitkoff, 91). And he had decided to do his best for the Freedom Ride. Lewis wrote on his application, “that justice and Freedom might come to the Deep South” (Sitkoff, 104). The Freedom Riders continued, and crossed Georgia without incident, but when the activists reached Alabama, Mother’s Day, on May 14 the attacks started and the riders decided to divide into two groups to travel around Alabama. When the Greyhound bus arrived in Anniston, Alabama, an angry mob surrounded it, armed with blackjacks, iron bars, clubs, and tire chains they smashed windows and slashed tiers. The driver managed to drive the bus a few miles out of town, for 27.

(46) repairing the tiers, at that moment the vehicle was fire bombed and destroyed but the passengers were able to get away with only minor injuries. As a result, Freedom Ride had ended for that group. One hour later the Trail ways bus arrived at Anniston. They were also attacked and beaten. When the Trail ways bus parked at its terminal in Birmingham, a mob of about forty whites attacked and beat up the Freedom Riders (Cozzens, 769). CORE leaders decided to continue the Freedom Rides because they believed that ending the Rides with violence would send the wrong message to the nation. In other words, if the Freedom Rides ended, it would send a signal to racist hate groups that violence could end the struggle for freedom. More people supported the Freedom Riders for their peaceful protests and did not agree with the violent hatred towards them. By the way, Diana Nush, a member of the Student Non-violent Coordinating Committee (SNCC) ², she informed the minister that: “the students have decided that we can’t let violence overcome” and the SNCC would continue what CORE began: “the ride must not be stopped. If they stop us with violence, the movement is dead” (Sitkoff, 93). The group departed from Nashville on May 14, 1961 to reinforce the CORE Riders in Alabama. Upon their arrival in Birmingham on May 17, 1961 Public Safety Commission Eugene “Bell” Conner ordered his police officers to arrest the Nashville Freedom Riders and took them to jail, the police said that it was for their own safety. Then they drove the Freedom Riders back to Tennessee. Instant of abandoning the campaign, the Freedom Riders headed right back Birmingham (Freidman, 39). On May 20, 1961 the Nashville riders were back in Birmingham, and then all of the Freedom Riders travelled to Montgomery. Attorney General Robert Kennedy requested the state police to protect the Freedom Riders. The police disappeared when the Freedom Riders entered Montgomery. The bus terminal was eerily quiet, and the Freedom Riders got off Greyhound a mob of 300 angry persons attacked them with baseball bats, pipes and sticks. As John Lewis remembered and described the situation that they were in that day: It was really weird. It was an eerie feeling. There was a funny peace there, quietness… Complete silence. There were no cabs 28.

(47) around that you could see. You couldn’t see any other buses. Not anything. We stepped off the bus and… people just started pouring out of the station, out of building, from all over the place. White people….(Stikoff, 94).. This courageous effort by these young students, many of whom were members of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC), inspired other young people to get involved and join the Freedom Rides too. During the rest of that year, hundreds of black and white students travelled from across the country to help integrate the terminals. But they didn't just help end segregation there. Ultimately, the young Freedom Riders helped bolster a movement of local black activists across the Deep South, and together they would help topple segregation everywhere (Freidman, 38).. In fact, many spent their summer in jail. Some were scarred for life from the beatings they received. But their efforts were not in vain. They forced the Kennedy administration to take a stand on civil rights, which was the intent of the Freedom Ride in the first place. In addition, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), at the request of Robert Kennedy, outlawed segregation in interstate bus travel in a ruling, more specific than the original Supreme Court mandate, that took effect in September, 1961. The Freedom Riders may not have finished their trip, but they made an important and lasting contribution to the civil rights movement.. II.3. Segregation in Restaurants. The black carried on their rights movement; they felt the hopefulness because they knew the hard efforts that the national and international politics did to solve the racial issue, and mainly the segregated schools. Because the black children suffered a lot from the 29.

(48) white’s racism, the whites did so because of the black’s skin color. In a way the blacks were convinced that some changes started to take place. During the 1960’s the black Americans faced a series of problems and struggles, among them there was the case of the four students who wanted to be served in a white restaurant. This act happened exactly in North Carolina at the Woolworths store on South Elm Street. This event was named The Greensboro Sit-ins.. II.3.1.The Greensboro Sit-ins 1960. The Greensboro Sit-ins were an instrumental action in the African-American Civil Rights Movement, leading to increased national sentiment at a crucial period in American history. The primary event took place at the Greensboro, North Carolina, Woolworth's store, now the International Civil Rights Canter & Museum.. The Greensboro Sit-ins of 1960 provoked all manner of emotions when they occurred and they remain an important part of civil rights history. Accepting and taking to the limit Martin Luther King’s idea of non-violence and peaceful protests, the sit-ins provoked the type of reaction the Civil Rights Movement wanted public condemnation of the treatment of those involved but also continuing to highlight the issue of desegregation in the South. The Sit-ins started in 1960 at Greensboro, North Carolina.. Racism carried on its way through out the American continent while the blacks had not the right to eat in the same place of whites. They were not even served by the white’s restaurants or even the waitresses. This is what happened on February 1, 1960, with the four students Ezell A. Blair Jr. (now known as Jibreel Khazan), David Richmond, Joseph McNeil, and Franklin McCain from North Carolina Agricultural & Technical College, an all-black college, sat down at the segregated lunch counter to protest Woolworth's policy of excluding 30.

(49) African Americans (Freidman, 36). These protesters were encouraged to dress professionally, to sit quietly, and to occupy every other stool so that potential white sympathizers could join in. The Sit-in soon inspired other sit-ins in Richmond, Virginia, Nashville, Tennessee; and Atlanta, Georgia. As students across the south began to "Sit-in" at the lunch counters of a few of their local stores, local authority figures sometimes used brute force to physically escort the demonstrators from the lunch facilities.. The Sit-in technique was not new as far back as 1939; African-American attorney Samuel Wilbert Tucker organized a sit-in at the then-segregated Alexandria, Virginia library. In 1960 the technique succeeded in bringing national attention to the movement. The success of the Greensboro Sit-in led to a rash of student campaigns throughout the South (Freidman, 36). Probably the best organized, most highly disciplined, the most immediately effective of these was in Nashville, Tennessee.. By February 7th, there were 54 Sit-ins throughout the South in 15 cities in 9 states. On March 9, 1960 an Atlanta University Centre group of students released an appeal for Human Rights. as a full page advertisement in newspapers, including the Atlanta. Constitution, Atlanta Journal, and Atlanta Daily World. This student group, known as the Committee on the Appeal for Human Rights (COAHR), initiated the Atlanta Student Movement and began to lead in Atlanta with Sit-ins starting on March 15, 1960 (Christian, 310). By the end of 1960, the Sit-ins had spread to every southern and border state and even to Nevada, Illinois, and Ohio.. Demonstrators focused not only on lunch counters but also on parks, beaches, libraries, theatres, museums, and other public places. Upon being arrested, student 31.

(50) demonstrators made "jail-no-bail" pledges, to call attention to their cause and to reverse the cost of protest, thereby saddling their jailers with the financial burden of prison space and food.. In April, 1960 activists who had led these Sit-ins held a conference at Shaw University in Raleigh, North Carolina that led to the formation of the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee (SNCC). SNCC took these tactics of nonviolent confrontation further, to the freedom rides. II.4. Segregation in other Public facilities. In 1960’s Birmingham contained about 353,000 citizens. There were about 65%whites, and 35%blacks; it was among the famous racial cities because of its blacks’ segregation. This segregation covered all life aspects public or commercial, it was only 10%of black Americans who were registered to vote in 1960. Eventually, black ways and life income was lower and worst than white American. Birmingham had no black police officer, no clerk, and no bus driver, in a world blacks had no rights in the American society. Because of this whites’ segregation, the number of black unemployment increased more and more. Birmingham’s black minority started to emerge to impose change in the American society. When Alabama banned the NAACP, Fred Shuttles Worth created the Alabama Christian Movement for Human Rights (ACMHR) in the 1956, to challenge Birmingham city segregation policies by huge protests. II.4.1.Birmingham Protests 1963 Martin Luther King was persuaded and aimed to make such confrontation in Birmingham, and this was a result for a non-violent action called “the Negro Revolution”.. 32.

(51) Birmingham has totally changed the Civil Rights Movement nature for racial justice, in addition, to the whites’ attitudes towards the blacks generally, and the Civil Rights Movement particularly. This Luther’s strategy permitted for many jailed blacks to be free, and it was the major anti-discrimination legislation in the American history.. Martin Luther King described Birmingham as the worst city for racism. Americans made such pressure on the blacks by the Ku Klux Klan1(KKK), the organisation who banned black music on radio stations, even pictures that contained black people. The call for Civil Rights was totally forbidden in Birmingham city, the purpose to avoid any trouble, or to provoke other movement appearance, because if any trouble appeared on the direct surface, this would be an immediate cause for Martin Luther King to gain or impose his policy “federal intervention”.. Bull Connor was the head of the office and great supporter for segregation. The black Americans were convinced that when Connor left his place, many things would improve after that the lack of local involvement among Birmingham community would be solved. When King was arrested nobody could help him, he was unable or had no right to see his lawyers, only J.F. Kennedy intervention could save him.. Martin Luther King assisted to continue his campaign, so this time, he used children protest to aid him to gain the Civil Rights Movement, at first, he did not wish to use children in his plane, but Connor’s pressure forced him, but without good results, throughout the U.S.A, there were about 500 youth were arrested and jailed because of their protests (Sitkoff, 100).. After this incident, Martin Luther King called for a one day and half to the protests, the Civil Rights leaders agreed for his proposition. Kennedy argued that what 33.

(52) happened in Birmingham was a serious danger and damaged totally America, knowing that Kennedy was the only person who was able to get Martin out of the jail in Birmingham (Krajewski, 02). All King’s efforts could improve black Americans states, situation, and mainly living conditions, such as, stores were desegregated, African Americans got more opportunities in finding jobs. Even for media, had shown how blacks situation mainly in the South was, this was a great support for the Civil Rights Movement to push more in the Positive way.. The Birmingham campaign was a planning movement created by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to have more support for the unequal behaviour towards black Americans endured in Birmingham. The organisation fought from 1963, it indented to publicize confrontations between black youth and white civil authorities. The SCLC organisation, helped Martin Luther King to use non-violent direct action tactics to defend laws which were considered unfair, unequal, and completely against black Civil Rights. This campaign was a direct cause or reason that pushed the local government to change its discrimination rules or laws.. At the beginning of the 1960’s, Birmingham represented one of the divided cities in the U.S.A. After the campaign received less adult volunteers, it began a new system which is “Children’s Crusade” this means recruited more children as possible. There was high school, college and elementary students were trained to participate in this campaign, but many were arrested, in addition, they intensified national media attraction on Birmingham campaign. To control the protests of the “Children’s Crusade”, the police used water jets and police dogs to high pressure on children (Luther King, 04).. 34.

(53) In conclusion, we say that the Birmingham campaign was an example of a direct action protest that represented a whole city. The use of media played an important role by bringing a national support for the segregation issue. Desegregation started to occur within Birmingham environment, the campaign was a major cause for the Civil Rights Act of 1964, which accused racial discrimination towards black American in the United States of America.. 35.

(54) Conclusion. This chapter discusses the fighting segregation in public transportation, intrastate transportation, as well as, segregation in other public facilities. The first part focuses on the successful result that the Montgomery bus boycott achieved in particular, the case of Rosa Parks who helped black Americans to gain their civil rights. Besides, the appearance of Martin Luther king who played an important role in fighting to eliminate discrimination in a non-violent way.. As well as, the issue of intrastate transportation and the case of the Freedom Rides of 1961. Thus, the Interstate Commerce Commission (ICC), at the request of Robert Kennedy, outlawed segregation in interstate bus travel in a ruling, more specific than the original Supreme Court mandate, that took effect in September, 1961. The Freedom Riders may not have finished their trip, but they made an important and lasting contribution to the Civil Rights Movement.. At last, it deals with different problems in other segregated public facilities such as, segregation in restaurants and the example of the Greensboro Sit-ins 1960. Then, it speaks about the Birmingham Protests of 1963. The Birmingham campaign was a planning movement created by the Southern Christian Leadership Conference (SCLC) to have more support for the unequal behaviour towards black Americans endured in Birmingham.. 36.

(55) Endnotes. 1 Ku Klux Klan, often abbreviated KKK and informally known as The Klan, is the name of three distinct past and present right-wing[2] organizations in the United States, which advocates extremist reactionary currents such as white supremacy and nationalism. The current manifestation is splintered into several chapters and is widely considered a hate group.[3] The first KKK flourished in the South in the 1860s, then died out by the early 1870s. The second KKK flourished nationwide in the early and mid 1920s, and adopted the costumes and paraphernalia of the first Klan. The third Klan emerged after World War II. Their iconic white costumes consisted of robes, masks, and conical hats. The first and third KKK had a well-established record of using terrorism, but historians’ debate how central that tactic was to the second KKK.. 37.